Spanish Immersion Program

Second language acquisition happens best when started at an early age.  Therefore, at OCS, students may enter this program in Kindergarten or the first semester of first grade.  The Spanish Immersion program begins in Kindergarten and extends through high school.  Strategic curriculum shifts at pivotal points in the Spanish Immersion timetable ensure that students grow and learn in both Spanish and English.  

• The most important thing you can do for your child is read aloud in English.  This exposes your child to English books and models fluent English reading.
• Be positive and encouraging!  Your child will follow your lead, so model for them how exciting it is to be able to learn a second language.
• Listen to your child read in Spanish.  Even if you don't understand what they are reading, it's good practice for them!

English instruction begins in 3rd grade. Until this point, students may seem behind their peers when comparing English reading or writing, but they are actually working at grade level in Spanish. They aren't actually behind when comparing their reading skills, they're just doing it in another language.

Once English instruction begins, students transfer the reading and writing skills they learned in Spanish to English (for example: reading left to right, paragraph, and sentence structure, reading comprehension strategies, etc.) English-specific skills that are not transferable from Spanish are addressed in 3rd-5th grade.

Oakland Christian School partners with add.a.lingua to ensure that students are receiving not only enough Spanish, but also the right Spanish, at the right time, and assessing student growth in Spanish on a set schedule. Being a partner school also means being part of a professional learning network that also implements early-total one-way immersion, and follows the same program design. Our partnership also allows us to participate in a comprehensive professional learning sequence and to utilize the most up-to-date, relevant research in the field of dual language immersion education.

Through our partnership with add.a.lingua and our outstanding team of immersion teachers, Oakland Christian School is committed to providing the highest standard of dual language immersion education.

Students in the Spanish Immersion program are tested using nationally-normed assessments (NWEA MAP) in Spanish and English, and perform at or above grade-level expectations in reading, language, math, and science. Our pilot 5th grade class performed well on their Spanish proficiency testing, as well, scoring above expectations and showing great promise for their future as bilingual academics.

Students have also excelled in communicating with Spanish-speakers in our community and around the world. Parents report to us that they receive compliments on their students’ communication and pronunciation wherever they encounter Spanish-speakers!